Stormy firmaments and an ever gloomy atmosphere, the constant shuffling of gravel followed the stomping footsteps of boots. A mostly unremarkable young man with short black hair and blue eyes was making his way up a mountain in silence as the weather spiraled further and further out of control, a far cry from hours before. He was in light clothing for the weather and was accompanied by an underwhelming arsenal for his mission. His long forgotten equipment gathered dust as their owner left them behind for the 4th time in a row. Although forgetful of trivial things, there was no denying he was stubborn. Sometimes to his own detriment like climbing a mountain in a rainstorm with no adequate clothing to protect him from the elements.

It was getting dark, the heat from the sun was already lacking. Still, he marched on determined as ever to complete his task. Wind began to pick up along with rain, their cold touch a far cry from the beading heat of the sun mere hours ago that made him forgo bringing a warm coat, having neglected a weather forecast. He shivered slightly, the abundance of cold combined with the lack of warm clothing has potentially risked being affected by exposure. Mostly unfazed, he ventured forward in search of a solution.

Shelter or better clothes. These are the two things he was now required to find by any means necessary. After about 30 minutes of getting pelted by cold droplets of water and wind he finds a cave. Staring blankly into the interior he gathers his thoughts for a moment before sitting down on a rock as thunder starts to pick up outside. As under-equipped as he was, he did have some essentials on him such as a compass, flashlight, backpack which was missing half of what should have been in it, and a pistol. Illuminating the cave with the flashlight in one hand, the man took a look around before deeming it to be safe enough to spend the night. He leaned against a rock, waited for a moment, and then forever banished his source of lumination to drift off into a questionable slumber. This slumber was not to last, for a landslide had other plans for him. With a crunch, a life went out. This soon to be forgotten hiker had went by the name of Luke Rusut.

The silence was deafening. Normally in a highly populated city like Hamburg you'd expect the telltale sounds of a major metropolitan area. cars, planes, idle chatter, birds singing, children playing or babies crying. Here there was nothing. Black ash dotted the landscape, it was one of the many signs of the mass destruction that occurred mere days ago.

Opening his eyes; Luke observed his surroundings. He wasn't in the cave he fell asleep in, he was in a city. Or more accurately what was left of a city.

At first it seemed unnerving empty, however under closer inspection skeletons and bodies were everywhere. In varying states of rot, decay and arson. Men, women and children. None were spared from the crusade of the Sirens. A gentle breeze sweeps the landscape, ever so quiet in a silent city.

Collapsed buildings are far as the eye can see, damaged from continuous and unrelenting bombing. The blaze that once consumed the city now lost as it was long out of fuel. Only scorched earth and ash remain as evidence of its destructive grasp.

Luke was silent for a moment, and then exhaled heavily before muttering quietly, "Are you fucking kidding me.", He was suffering from sensory overload due to the sheer dread of the present environment, but he would bide his time to better understand his situation. Luke decided to seek shelter, or rather what passed for it for the time being. He passed over mutilated corpses and grey matter that had long since decayed after exiting its previous host on his journey to find a temporary home.

Though the world had long since exhausted its light, that did not mean there was a shortage of shelter, however dilapidated. He found his abode in the form of a collapsed clock tower, on the outskirts. Night passed in a slow fashion, the disorientation of uncertainty impeding Luke's ability to end his unease.

Luke was taken out of his temporary respite and into full alert from the sound of falling bricks about 20 yards to his right. Given how he had not touched a single brick he was put into full alert. There was no telling what was over there. There may be a survivor or worse, a threat.

Narrowing his eyes, checked his waist to see if he still had any of his possessions on his person. His compass was there but the glass was shattered beyond repair and the frame was dented. His sidearm, a Glock 21, had scuffs on the grip but was otherwise no worse for wear. He could not find his flashlight. He ejected the magazine to check if it still had ammunition, luckily for him it did. He reinserted the magazine and didn't bother rechambering a round. His breathing steadied and his senses were put into overdrive as adrenaline pumped through his veins as he slowly approached the source of the disturbance, pistol at the ready.

Footsteps. Light yet slow. Likely an adult of a relatively small stature if not a child. It was already dark so visibility was low. Given the state of the surrounding city it was ill advised to expose himself so readily. He waited.

"H-hello? Um, is anyone still here?"

The voice that sliced through the silence was young. Clearly an early teenager perhaps. Maybe a survivor, but you could never be too safe. She was walking around in the open in this city so she clearly was either an idiot or she didn't believe her life was at risk.

Sniff sniff. "I can smell you, sweaty and dirty."

Despite the confirmation that she knew of his presence, Luke didn't move a muscle and still trained his sidearm on her approximate location. "What do you want?" He ventured.

"Aha! So you are there!"

"Yes, now what do you want? This city doesn't exactly look to be keen on receiving guests this time of year."

"I guess not, do you know what happened?"

"No. I just got here." Luke was getting a bit annoyed. Just what did she want? It was unlikely that one would stumble upon a person with good intent in the middle of a blood ridden city.

"You just got here? I guess you're like me then!"

Luke sighs and lowered his gun, flicking the safety on. This is getting nowhere. He removes himself from the cover that was obscuring him to come face to face with his interlocutor.

Standing in front of him was what appeared to be a young teenage girl, possessing a flowing ashen grey set of chest length hair with white and red revealing clothing that emphasised her slim figure. Adorning the top of her head was a pair of canine ears and a tail flowed from behind her, out of a short skirt. Her fingernails were painted in inconsistent reds, purples, and blues, with black and red fingerless gloves allowing them to see the light of day.

Luke was utterly bewildered by the sight that registered before him. "...Who are you?"

"I'm Yuudachi! People call me the 'Mad Dog of Solomon!' Hehe, I sound pretty strong don't I? I'd never lose in a brawl!" Yuudachi beamed with her head held high with her hands on her hips. Quite proud of herself despite the destruction around her.

Luke did the natural thing in this situation. He facepalmed. That was a near fatal mistake. He accidentally hit himself in the head with his pistol. He was lucky he had set the safety on prior. "Ow." He leaned against a wall, setting his sidearm away for now as he tried to force out the pain he was feeling from the pulsing of his forehead. "Right… I'm Luke… no special credentials here." He all but forced out as his palm was pressed against his head.

"That looks sore mister, are you okayyy?" Garnet eyes gazed up at Luke with genuine concern.

"I'll live… Though at this point it would probably be better if we stuck together in this kind of place." He begrudgingly admitted.

"That's a good idea! But don't get any weird ideas." She glared at him suspiciously for half a second before returning to a beaming countenance.

Luke, having gotten it together, joined her side and set out to see what this world had in store for him and her.